Sunday, June 18, 2017

Taken a break from writing my blog while I've been engaged in campaigning for the right to represent Montgomeryshire in the House of Commons for another five years (or however long the current Parliament lasts). Personally, I reckon it will last much longer than some seem to think. Anyway a friend of mine asked me tonight to start blogging again. So here goes with what I was just thinking about.
It was an unusual election, in that I've not before seen so much rubbish doing the rounds on the Internet. Generally it was stuff intended to cause me electoral damage. My policy is that it's best just to totally ignore it, letting the 'keyboard warriors' talk amongst themselves. Whatever, it doesn't seem to had much negative impact!

Now there's no point in trying to justify in the face of this stuff, unless there's a purpose - such as trying to explain how Westminster works. It can be a bit of a mystery. Anyway, this stemmed from a casual comment by me that I was, in general, quite devolutionary. The keyboard warriors went to town, listing all the occasions I've voted against devolving more powers to the Welsh Parliament. I also pointed out that because further devolution is not that popular, these accusatory posters, intended to damage me, were more like.y to have the opposite effect. But on to the point I want to make about process.
Over the last year or so, as PPS in the Wales Office, I've been involved in taking the Wales Bill through Parliament. In general the Wales Act, passed earlier this year devolves more powers to the Welsh Parliament. What happened (as always happens) is that other parties during the various Parliamentary stages put down amendments to amend, or strengthen the Bill. They don't expect these amendments to carry, usually just putting down markers or making points. Government accepts some of them, puts on some itself, while other amendments are withdrawn. A few are pushed to a division, where Government invariably votes them down. It how legislation is debated and developed. The Wales Bill, very unusually, became an Act without and amendment succeeding in either the Commons or the Lords.
But this process means there are many amendments I vote against, giving 'keyboard warriors' who have time on their hands to trawl the Internet, putting together 'evidence' that I am anti devolutionary. So happens, I usually have far more politically damaging criticism that I am too devolutionary - which is why in this instance the 'keyboard warriors' were inadvertently being helpful. I particularly enjoyed that! But this post is to explain one aspect of how a bill makes its way to the statute book.